Articles

Small Business of the Year Runner-up: Garris Grading and Paving Inc. By the time Angela Alvarez Garris decided to build up an asphalt plant, she was fed up with people who refused to belive a woman could own and operate such a ostensibly manly business.

Cover story: Appearances mattered to Gary Smith, from his attire to every aspect of his ad agency and the clients it attracted. Since the ’70s, he and, later, his son had built Smith Advertising & Associates into one of the Southeast’s largest. And he had done it in a place known more for GIs and generals than marketing geniuses. Moving among Fayetteville’s elite, the Smiths made quite an impression. Then — amid lawsuits, investigations and allegations of a Ponzi scheme — the image they crafted crumbled. But what really happened? Were they perpetrators or victims? Ad men know how crucial it is to control the message. But for Gary and Todd Smith, the medium became the message when they dropped

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts recommended The Ryland Group Inc.’s stock this summer in part because of the Westlake Village, Calif.-based homebuilder’s presence in Charlotte, which the New York-based investment banking firm deems one of the best housing markets in the nation.